LONGMONT -- The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission fought to keep its lawsuit in court Friday, saying it had the right to protect its powers from being undermined by Longmont's new oil and gas rules.

The COGCC sued the city in late July, arguing that those new regulations trespass on state authority. Longmont asked the Boulder County District Court to throw the case out in September, saying the commission had no legal power to bring the suit and no actual harm to sue the city over.

"The commission has not been injured by the ordinance and thus has no standing to sue; and the court lacks jurisdiction since the commission's challenge is unripe," read the motion by city attorney Eugene Mei, assistant city attorney Dan Kramer and special counsel Phil Barber of Denver.

COGA reply

The COGCC countered Friday by saying that if one government body usurps another's powers, an injury can be claimed. In this case, assistant attorney general Jake Matter wrote, the commission's statewide mandate to govern oil and gas activity was at risk.

"Under the city's analysis, the commission cannot take any action to curb the usurpation of its authority and must stand idly by while its powers are eroded," argued Matter, the commission's lawyer in the case. "The city's analysis is flawed because the commission's right to sue is secured by its legislative charge 'to do whatever may reasonably be necessary to carry out the provisions' of the Act."

Ironically, Matter wrote, a nine-year-old local government lawsuit against the COGCC also helped prove that right. In a 2003 case, the LaPlata County commissioners sued over a rule that claimed the terms of a state drilling permit always trumped any conflicting local ordinances. A court of appeals ruled that since the county commission could argue its land-use powers were infringed on, it could claim injury and bring the suit.

COGCC response

The Longmont ordinance is the first update of the city's oil and gas rules since 2000. It includes both a minimum set of standards -- generally based on state requirements -- and a recommended set of tougher standards that operators could agree to follow to speed up the permit process. The new rules specifically prohibit surface drilling in residential zones, though an exception could be made by the city if needed.

That ban was one of eight different parts of the regulations that the COGCC objected to in its July 30 lawsuit.

"The terms of the ordinance, on their face, conflict with the (Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation) Act and the commission rules and assume the commission's authority by their very existence," Matter wrote in the Friday filing.

Longmont opposition to lawsuit

Longmont's attorneys also had argued that the Legislature limited the COGCC's power to sue in 1981, when legislators repealed a provision allowing the commission to "sue and be sued" anywhere in the state. Matter responded that that was only a cleanup action, meant to follow a rule that suits against state agencies had to be brought in Denver. It did not affect the COGCC's ability to sue Longmont, Matter argued.

Further court dates have not yet been announced. The city also has been dueling with the Colorado Oil and Gas Association over whether the industry group can join the lawsuit. Longmont's attorneys argued that COGA was adequately represented by the COGCC in the case, that COGA's claims were different enough to practically be a second lawsuit, and that the one COGA member active in Longmont -- TOP Operating -- already had signed an agreement not to sue Longmont over its rules.

"Intervention by COGA would interject new issues into the case, causing delay and confusion," the city's attorneys wrote.

COGA answered that it should be allowed into the case since the regulations could harm its interests, and those interests would not always be the same as the commission's, which was charged with considering the public interest as a whole.

There are COGA members that have "leasehold interests" in Longmont, the group said, even if TOP is the only member to actually hold a drilling permit from the state.

"Even COGA members who do not have leasehold interests within Longmont may be adversely affected ... if the challenged provisions of the ordinance are upheld," the association said in a brief by Denver attorneys Karen Spaulding and Kenneth Wonstolen. "Such an adverse, watershed decision would enable other Colorado municipalities to adopt regulations impeding COGA members' ability to develop their oil and gas interests within the state."

The group also argued that its claims had enough overlap with the COGCC's to be relevant to the case and would avoid a "needless multiplicity of lawsuits against the City of Longmont."

New coordinator pushes Buffs to work, play at level he expectsJim Leavitt has discovered this much about his new defense at Colorado: He has some talent with which to work, but his players need to put it in another gear. Full Story

New coordinator pushes Buffs to work, play at level he expectsJim Leavitt has discovered this much about his new defense at Colorado: He has some talent with which to work, but his players need to put it in another gear. Full Story